The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for forming conductors on the surface of a semiconductor IC device and a semiconductor IC device having conductors formed by the method of and apparatus for forming conductors.
Aiming at higher performance and higher operation speed of a semiconductor IC devices, finer conductor width and higher degree of element integration are adopted in the semiconductor IC devices. This results in difficulty of development and prolongation of development period in semiconductor IC devices. This situation suggests that the trial-and-error circuit fabrication technique is necessary in LSI design as well. That is to say, a defective portion of a chip which does not function satisfactorily in the former design is located. A semiconductor IC device performing perfect operation is provisionally fabricated by cutting a conductor existing in the portion, providing a conductor in an arbitrary location and repairing a defective conductor. It becomes thus possible to perform the following characteristics evaluation and design alternation rapidly.
A method of evaluating VLSIs is reported in a Japanese journal "Semiconductor World", September 1987, pp. 27 to 32. The method comprises the steps of opening holes in a passivation layer located at the surface of an LSI chip and an insulating film between layers by using an FIB (focused ion beam), exposing a part of a wiring conductor or a patterned conductor layer, introducing CVD gas, and forming a metal conductor by using the FIB in the same way.
Further, a scheme of forming a Mo wiring conductor on a Si substrate covered with SiO.sub.2 by using a laser CVD technique for the purpose of evaluation of a semiconductor IC device is described in Extended Abstracts of the 17th Conference on Solid State Devices and Materials, Tokyo, 1985, pp. 193 to 196.
JP-A-60-236214 (laid open Nov. 25, 1985) and JP-A-60-236215 (laid open Nov. 25, 1985) disclose forming a thin film having thickness of 100 or less as a seed for absorbing the laser beam and then radiating the laser beam to perform CVD to form a wiring conductor material into a film.
U.S. Ser. No. 134460 filed Dec. 17, 1987 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention discloses opening a hole for connection in a passivation layer of a semiconductor IC device, cutting a wiring conductor, forming a buffer film on the passivation layer, and forming a metal conductor layer thereon for the purpose of evaluation of the semiconductor IC device.
U.S. Ser. No. 32753 filed Mar. 31, 1987 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention discloses forming a wiring conductor on a passivation layer of a semiconductor IC device by using laser CVD or ion beam CVD and opening a hole in the passivation layer by using an FIB for the purpose of evaluation of the semiconductor IC device.
JP-A-63-52442 (laid open Mar. 5, 1988) discloses directing, in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, a laser beam onto a wiring conductor pattern for the purpose of reducing the resistance of the wiring conductor pattern formed over a substrate of a semiconductor IC device.